Pardew puts contract talks with Newcastle stars on hold until end of season

Alan Pardew has put contract talks with Joey Barton, Jose Enrique and Jonas Gutierrez on hold until the summer.

All three have delayed negotiations while they wait to see if Pardew is allowed to spend the Andy Carroll transfer money.

And the Newcastle boss admits he does need to strengthen his squad to cope with a second season in the Barclays Premier League.

In demand: Enrique (right) has been monitored by a number of top clubs

Pardew said: 'I don’t want to necessarily increase the size of the squad too much, but I do want to increase competition for places. At times, we lack that.

'In terms of the starting eleven, most Newcastle fans would pick the same side and that’s a worry for me as a manager.

'I don’t need two players in every position but somebody like Phil Neville at Everton who can play left-back, right-back or centre midfield. They call them utility players and they save you a lot of money.

'I don’t want to lose the focus of the group. We need to protect the spirit. I want to keep it tight and relatively small and easy to manage. I made that mistake before at West Ham when the squad got too big and it was difficult to focus the group.'

Pardew also faces decisions over the futures of veterans Alan Smith and Sol Campbell. But he added: 'I’m not going to talk about any out-goings at all. They are all decisions we’ll make at the end of the season.'